Charles D
By Charles D Ellison
Don’t say I didn’t tell you: Two years from now, the GOP will officially split into two parties, with traditional Republicans getting freed up to do their thing while a more robust tea party spin-off picks its own nominee for a presidential election that will be unlike any we’ve seen since Ross Perot’s wild ride in 1992.
A confluence of trends — including the public’s anxiety, right-wing nuttiness and incentives for RINOs (or Republicans in Name Only) and tea partiers to go their separate ways — are contributing to what will become one of the most politically cataclysmic presidential races ever.
So forget about tired angles on the “battle for the soul of the Republican Party.” It’s time to start distinguishing Republicans from those tea party types we all know, love and ever so slightly detest.
The real RINOs aren’t politicians such as New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie or Governor John Kasich of Ohio, they’re the fire-breathing stunt artists such as Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Kentucky), who joined the GOP in an attempt to co-opt its extensive network of activists, operatives and fund-raising bundlers.
They’re supported by a powerful entourage of activists who say no to everything from presidential nominees to the recent bipartisan budget deal.
But once they drain the national email lists and decide to jump ship, look out for a tea party convention in a Southern city near you.
Here are some reasons you should expect a tea party presidential nominee in 2016:
1) It’s in the Republican DNA. And since political-party shifts happen in cycles, we guess it’s about that time for a new one to start up.
2) Americans want a third party. At least that’s what a Gallup survey said two months ago on the eve of the government shutdown, when jaded voters watched the congressional hot mess unfold.
3) You can’t dismiss the 25 percent. That niggling 25 percent of the population made up of folks who like government shutdowns and still think President Barack Obama was born in Kenya just won’t go away. You may say they’re just a minority, but polls show they’re a pretty stubborn one.
4)Those Republican “nut jobs” we keep laughing about keep running for office. And the strange thing is, they still have an audience.
5) Chris Christie thinks he can win a Republican primary. If Christie gets new Republican Party votes plus independents plus moderate-to-conservative Democrats (and a few black and brown folks, too, who like his candid New Jersey style), his camp thinks it can pull together a coalition that gives Republicans their last best shot at the White House before voters of colour totally take over. WP-BLOOMBERGBy Charles D Ellison
Don’t say I didn’t tell you: Two years from now, the GOP will officially split into two parties, with traditional Republicans getting freed up to do their thing while a more robust tea party spin-off picks its own nominee for a presidential election that will be unlike any we’ve seen since Ross Perot’s wild ride in 1992.
A confluence of trends — including the public’s anxiety, right-wing nuttiness and incentives for RINOs (or Republicans in Name Only) and tea partiers to go their separate ways — are contributing to what will become one of the most politically cataclysmic presidential races ever.
So forget about tired angles on the “battle for the soul of the Republican Party.” It’s time to start distinguishing Republicans from those tea party types we all know, love and ever so slightly detest.
The real RINOs aren’t politicians such as New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie or Governor John Kasich of Ohio, they’re the fire-breathing stunt artists such as Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Kentucky), who joined the GOP in an attempt to co-opt its extensive network of activists, operatives and fund-raising bundlers.
They’re supported by a powerful entourage of activists who say no to everything from presidential nominees to the recent bipartisan budget deal.
But once they drain the national email lists and decide to jump ship, look out for a tea party convention in a Southern city near you.
Here are some reasons you should expect a tea party presidential nominee in 2016:
1) It’s in the Republican DNA. And since political-party shifts happen in cycles, we guess it’s about that time for a new one to start up.
2) Americans want a third party. At least that’s what a Gallup survey said two months ago on the eve of the government shutdown, when jaded voters watched the congressional hot mess unfold.
3) You can’t dismiss the 25 percent. That niggling 25 percent of the population made up of folks who like government shutdowns and still think President Barack Obama was born in Kenya just won’t go away. You may say they’re just a minority, but polls show they’re a pretty stubborn one.
4)Those Republican “nut jobs” we keep laughing about keep running for office. And the strange thing is, they still have an audience.
5) Chris Christie thinks he can win a Republican primary. If Christie gets new Republican Party votes plus independents plus moderate-to-conservative Democrats (and a few black and brown folks, too, who like his candid New Jersey style), his camp thinks it can pull together a coalition that gives Republicans their last best shot at the White House before voters of colour totally take over. WP-BLOOMBERG
